HIV and AIDS
Examining the Rollout of Pediatric Antiretroviral
Treatment in South Africa
“We are grossly
undersupplying antiretroviral drugs to children, and our prevention of
mother-to-child transmission program is not working at this site. As a
result children are dying in hoards,” explained one doctor who was
interviewed as part of a study of pediatric HIV treatment in South Africa.
While not all the findings were as grim as the one just quoted, the studies
revealed significant deficiencies in pediatric HIV treatment in South Africa.
HIV and AIDS
Guide for Improving Adherence to Drug Therapies
Since 1996, the standard treatment for HIV infection has moved from
single- and double-drug therapies to therapies containing three or more
anti-HIV drugs, also known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or
HAART. One of the main concerns of antiretroviral programs is to
motivate clients to follow their complex drug regimen exactly as
prescribed. Unless the therapy is adhered to at least 95 percent
correctly, levels of HIV in the blood will rise, resulting in
AIDS-related complications. To address this concern, the Population
Council’s Horizons Program collaborated with the International Centre
for Reproductive Health and the Coast Province General Hospital in
Mombasa, Kenya, to create a manual for training health care workers in
improving patient compliance with antiretroviral therapy. The manual is
being used in an intervention study in Kenya that is investigating ways
of improving patients’ adherence to HAART.
Operations Research
Enhancing HIV/AIDS Care in South India
As of 2002, nearly 4 million adults in
India were infected with HIV, according to UNAIDS; the number of new HIV
infections in India is rapidly increasing; and the health care system is
experiencing a substantial growth in the demand for services. To address
this challenge, the Population Council’s Horizons program began
collaborating with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in September 1999
to examine the experiences of the Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research
and Education, a nongovernmental organization based in Chennai, India,
that provides a range of successful prevention, care, and support services
for people with HIV/AIDS. The organization wanted to expand services in
Chennai as well as introduce their style of services to organizations in
four other locations in India. This Horizons study includes components
focusing on clients’ quality of life and satisfaction with services,
institutional costs, clients’ willingness to pay for services, and the
effect of treatment costs on clients’ budgets. To investigate these
issues, the researchers used client surveys and in-depth interviews,
personnel training and assessment, and the development of case studies for
each location.
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